From my diary

I apologise for the lack of blogging. Ordinary life has been getting in the way, as it does for us all, and I am in the middle of changing job, which is always rather tedious.

I’ve not done anything further on applying for a grant for the Methodius translation. I will; it is simply a matter of finding the time.

It looks very much as if I shall be uploading the Eusebius Gospel Problems and Solutions and Origen Homilies on Ezekiel volumes at Christmas time. Sales for both have slowed to almost nothing; and the intention was always to make them available freely online. A few months after that they will go out of print, as I cancel my deal with Lightning Source. Again, only lack of time impedes this.

Nothing further has been done on translating Eutyches. Nor have I heard any more about the translation that I commissioned of Andrew of Crete’s Encomium on Nicholas of Myra. The sample was OK, and the reviewer sent positive comments; and then the translator went silent.

Today I’ve been working on a blog post on “Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.” Maybe it will appear tomorrow!

I also need to change my Mithras pages to work on mobile devices, using responsive front-end technology. Sometime.

I’d like to get away for a bit of holiday in the sun, once we get closer to Christmas. But where to go?

I was thinking about Egypt, but the UK Foreign Office travel advice is now horrific.

It was always pretty awful, the way that Egyptians hassled you for money if you went anywhere by yourself. I remember walking to the road at the end of the drive of my hotel, and, quite literally, being followed down the road by a group of Egyptians! I also remember a pretty scary taxi ride back from Luxor to my hotel, in which the driver kept trying to detour. But it seems to be much worse.

The travel advice now suggests that going around, except in a group with a guide who can fend off the harassment, is unwise. It never said this before. Large areas of the country are clearly in the hands of bandits.

I don’t quite see how I can reasonably volunteer for all that. Let us hope that this unhappy country recovers to where it was before. How little good, and how much misery, has the “Arab Spring” brought to Arab countries.

One thing that I do want to see sometime is the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria. This contains an interesting relief of the Lion-Headed god, from the cult of Mithras. There was a Mithraeum near Memphis, probably connected with the Roman garrison there. There is only one photograph of this relief, a bad one, which is reprinted. I would hope to take another. Unfortunately the museum is still closed “for restoration”. I messaged Zahi Hawass on Twitter, and he confirmed this.

So … I don’t quite know where to go, that will give me sun and culture in December. Jordan can be cold in early December; and the country is full of refugees and fighting men.